Food Allergies – Our Experiences Part I: Sara

Perhaps you were thrown into the situation after experiencing a frightening instant reaction to a new food... or maybe you have been battling a persistent rash, digestive or even behavioral issue... In the end, the outcome is all too common: Food allergies.
I found out my oldest daughter (now 4, and "outgrown" her allergy) was severely allergic to egg whites when she was about 18 mos. She had eczema from the time (in retrospect) we started "real" foods with her - about 12 months when we started introducing all the fun stuff - never taking into consideration that food might be causing the unusual and seemingly incurable rashes that affected her torso, legs arms and face - keeping her up all night, itching until she bled.Several prescription creams and 3 pediatricians later, we found ourselves at an allergist who skin tested her for the "big ones" (egg whites, peanuts, soy, milk etc)... and turned out to be a +4 to egg whites - severe - but not anaphylactic, thank goodness.

So... now what? Avoid all egg products? Oh my goodness! Eggs, in one form or another, are pretty much in everything - baked goods, hard candy, breads... name it, it probably contained eggs. I was overwhelmed, to say the least... and my husband was in denial. We spent quite some time scrutinizing every single label on everything that came into our house, but soon, it began to come naturally. Egg "code names" would pop off labels to me as if it said "POISON" in big bold letters... I became a pro at reading labels! I also baked a lot more... making "Sara safe" cupcakes for every birthday party we attended was a chore - but we made the best of it, making sure to decorate them with Elmos or something creative.... and if you didn’t tell people it was an eggless recipe, guess what - they never knew.

Carol M.
http://www.discoverytoyslink.com/esuite/home/carolm